St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-19
THE GOLDEN RULE.
Do Unto Others AS You Would
Have Them Do Unto You.

~
taking for his text: "All things what
you, do We even so to them.A Mat.
viii, IL. ~
The golden rule has long and stub
born war to wage with the Unborn sell
tlshnesS of man. AS it stands here IN
Matthew it is sort of summary Of many
matchlesS preceptS. 1t is an example OF
much in little. The pith of law, proph->
esy, philosophy and religion, and we
may say also of social gentility, politi-
cal economy and governmental policy,
all is swept together here into single
sentence. Jesus himself says of it:
'This is the law and the prophets" 1t
Is the practical rule for a peaceful and
prosperous life among men, and when
we remember that God is among the
'OtherS" to be taken into our account,
it becomes rule of divine life also. 1t
was heroic act in the Master to give to
his disciples rule so contrary to what
threw down the gauntlet in behalf
OF a prospective, regenerate and unset
fish manhood against the Old-style sell
fish, degenerate and satanic race of NOR
tails. This rule can be reasonable only
in the light of that great truth that lay
at the bottom of all Christ's life and
work, namely: that man is everywhere
by nature the brother of man, and that
God is the Father of all. In that truth
there is the whole doctrine of ''liberty,
fraternity and equality" so sadly mis-
understood, and yet so frantically pur-
sued and SO frantically abused all
that truth Jesus died, and by His death
breaches to the world such self-abnega-
ton as is necessary to universal broth
erly kindness. On the basis of that
truth you and stand mutually related.
On any lower principle-for there can
be no lower TRUTH may, if / can, take
you for my horse and hitch you to any
cart; or, if it suits me better, fatten
you to furnish my table; or, what is
more profitable, but not less brutal, kid
nap you and trade you for gold in a for
eign port.
will speak moment of wars and of
slavery, to show what the golden rule
has wrought in history. What little we
read of ancient history nowadays, does
it not impress us as an almost continu-
GUS recital of bloody battles? Now and
then, indeed, the historian turns aside
to tell of kings and constitutions, but
ere long he dips his pen in blood again.
Fifteen Decisive Battles" is the title
of an able book-as though this worlds
history is decided wholly by so bad
thing as war. Our historians can hardly
get over the spell of martial ignominy,
for | cannot say glory, that has hurt all
peoples and covered the earth with
gore. Spite of all, however, during the
last century change has been coming
over the face of these matters. Our his
torians are beginning to write of the
arts of peace, and the life of peoples.
We begin to praise John Howard more
and Napoleon less. We celebrate the
birthday of John Wesley, but not that
of the Duke of Wellington. We
are not sure but Wycliffe
was greater man than Cromwell. and
that any great man of peace is greater
than the greatest man of blood. We all
have noticed how hard it is to get up
war of late years. Ten years of active
agitation hardly suffices to embroil
neighboring nations. How long have
the dailies, and even the religious pa
perS had Russia on the verge OF, war
with some sister nation? Yet it all
comes to nothing but a big show of
arms,a parade of bayonets with now and
then an exchange of growls between
Bismarck and the Bear. 1t is hard to-
get up a war now. Men who do not
want to be shot feel that it is wrong to
shoot men. Christ's spirit is abroad,
and the golden rule is working like
leaven where some would least expect
it. However there is yet enough of the
barbarian in the most civilized nations
to keep their standing armies in full
point and war-gear, and now and then
to break over Christ's rule of mercy and
deliberately shoot one another. Some
OF the more cruel phases of
warfare and also some of the
more ineXcusable modes of it are
already gone never to return unless the
wheels of Christian progress should roll
BACKWARD. Captured are no longer en-
shaved, nor captured cities put to the
sword. Privateering, piracy and duel
ing lurk still only in the more barbar-
Gus parts of the world. Our greatest
generals in blue say to their conquered
brothers in gray, $50 back to your
plOws and your home" Thank God
there has never been triumph on the
brutal Roman plan in our American
capital, with SO many thousand cap
tives for the auction block. The golden
rule has spoiled all that. AS to slavery.
Less than three hundred years from the
time Christ died Constantine began to
legiSlate in favor of the slaves in the
Christian church, looking either to their
VI humane
treatment. Church councils spoke
against slavery. Strange new sounds
crept into the stern legal language of
Rome. Here is an example from the
Theodosian code: "Who can bear to see
children separated from their parents.
brothers from sisters, wives from hus-
bands?" Under Justinian slavery was
suppressed by penalty, and Christ was
spoken of as 'the common master
of ALL" There is no more shame
full and dreadful stigma upon our
modern church and civilization than the
African slave trade. But though the
church, both Catholic and Protestant,
was implicated in it, Christian senti-
ment at last arose to free us from its
awful shame and cruelty and crime.
George Fox and his brother Quakers
were among the first to stand up boldly
and quake not while they qn0ted the
Golden Rule itself to the world in be-
half of the black man. Mr.. Brace
quotes Mr.. Wilson, the historian of the
slave power, as saying: NEARLY all
who engaged in the formation of anti
slavery societies were members of the
Christian churches, and were taking an
active part in the religious, missionary
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